■ 1435 
,S12 
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SACRED FLOWERS OF THE AZTECS 



BY 



WILLIAM EDWIN SAFFORD 



Revised and reprinted from the Volta Review, Vol. XIV, No. 2, 
May. 1912 



PRBSS OP JUDD & DSTWEILER, INC. 
WASHINGTON, D. C. 



c 



SACRED FLOWERS OF THE AZTECS 



BY 



WILLIAM EDWIN SAFFORD 



Revised and reprinted from the Volta Review, Vol. XIV, No. 2, 
May, 1912 



PRESS OE JUDD & DETWEILER, INC. 
WASHINGTON, D. C. 




Photo by Mr. C. B. Doyle 
THE SACRED EAR-ELOWER OE THE AZTECS (Cyiiibopcfal 1! Ill pciiduUfloriiin) : natural size: 



Gift 



SACRED FLOWERS OF THE AZTECS 



^ 



BY WILLIAM EDWIN SAFFORD 



THE love of beauty was strongly de- 
veloped among the ancient Mexi- 
cans. Their poems and songs which 
have come down to us abound in ex- 
quisite metaphors and similes, and are 
sometimes made up entirely of images, 
recalling flowery meadows, jewels of 
every color, the thousand songs of the 
mocking bird, the resplendent feathers 
of humming birds or the royal trogon, 
and the lovely hues of the rainbow. 

The floating gardens of the Mexican 
lakes and the magnificent parks which 
the Spaniards encountered on their 
march to the city of Mexico were a 
source of wonder and admiration to all 
who beheld them. The floating gardens 
still exist and are today the principal 
source of the flowers in the markets of 
Mexico City, but scarcely a vestige re- 
mains of the parks of Montezuma, with 
their great reservoirs, their irrigating 
ditches, and the garden plots, which were 
laid off by intersecting walks. 

Flowers adorned the ancient temples 
and idols ; even the priests, while per- 
forming their bloody rites, wore wreaths 
and garlands. No one could enter the 
presence of royalty without a floral offer- 
ing, and certain flowers were permitted 
to be carried only by persons of royal 
lineage. Certain flowers, herbs, and 
roots were used by wizards for working 
their spells ; others were used as safe- 
guards from witchcraft and magic, or as 
amulets for good luck. 

It has not been possible to identify all 
the flowers mentioned by the early writ- 
ers. Some are well known, though their 
Aztec, or Nahuatl, names have been 
superseded by modern names, which are 
sometimes misleading. Among the latter 
are the common marigold, which the 
ancient Mexicans called cempoalxochitl, 
or the "flower with a thousand petals." 
Now marigolds, botanically known as 
Tagetes, are sometimes referred to as 
"African marigolds," or "French mari- 



golds" ; they are, however, of Mexican 
origin, and were much used by the Az- 
tecs in their religious ceremonies. The 
Mexican name for "flower" was xochitl, 
and for "tree," quahuitl. They formed 
their names by combining a number of 
words together, leaving off the terminal 
tl or tli from all of the words but the 
last. Thus the spotted animal called 
ocelot takes its name from the Mexican 
ocelotl, and to form the name "ocelot- 
flower" the Mexicans drop the final tl of 
ocelotl and call the flower oceloxochitl. 

the; sacred ear-flower 

Among the flowers most highly prized 
by the ancient Mexicans was one called 
the "flower ear" (.vochinacastli), or 
"sacred ear'" (fig. i) (teonacastli) , the 
botanical identity of which has only re- 
cently been established.* This flower, ac- 
cording to early writers, was valued both 
on account of its fragrance and for the 
aromatic flavor of its spicy petals, which 
were ground up, together with the toasted 
seeds of cacao, for making chocolate. 
The earliest account we have of it was 
written by Padre Bernardino de Sahagun 
about the year 1569, but his manuscript 
remained unpublished until compara- 
tively recently. He called it teimacastli, 
from teiitl, or teotl, "god," and nacaztli, 
"ear." The first account to be published 
was that of Dr. Francisco Hernandez, a 
physician sent in 1570 by Philip H, King 
of Spain, to study the resources of the 
New World. Hernandez figured many 
of the most remarkable plants of Mexico, 
but he was in no sense a botanist. His 
figures (fig. 2) were often rude and 
scarcely recognizable and his descriptions 
far from adequate. His work, like that 
of Sahagun, remained unpublished for a 
long time. It first appeared in a Spanish 
translation by Ximenez, printed in the 



*See Safford, W. E., "The sacred ear- 
flower of the Aztecs : xochinacaztli," in the 
Smithsonian Report for 1910, pp. 427-431. igir. 



88 



THE VOLT A REVIEW 



city of Mexico in 1615 without illustra- 
tions. The Latin addition, with iigures 
made from Hernandez's drawings, ap- 
peared in Rome in 1651, long after the 
death of Hernandez. It was not com- 
plete, but embraced only the portions of 
Hernandez's work relating to materia 
medica. The "ear-flower'' he described 
under the heading "De xochinacastli sen 
Hore auriculcc." The following is trans- 
lated from Ximenez : 



greatest charm and taste, together with 
a very fragrant odor and flavor to that 
celebrated drink cacao, which they call 
ehocolate, and it imparts to it certain 
tonic properties and wholesomeness as 
well. It is said that when drunk in water 
this flower dispels flatulency, causes 
phlegm to become thin, warms and com- 
forts the stomach which has been chilled 
or weakened, as well as the heart, and 
that it is efficacious in asthma, ground to 




FIG. I. THE SACRED EAR-FEOWER OF THE AZTECS : TWICE NATURAE SIZE 

"The flower is divided into leaves shaped almost exactly like ears." — Ximenez 



"The xochinacastli is a rare tree, with 
leaves long and narrow and of a deep 
green color. Its flowers, borne on a 
pendent velvety peduncle, are divided 
into leaves, which are purplish within 
and herbaceous without, shaped almost 
exactly like ears, and of a very agreeable 
odor. It grows in warm countries, and 
there is nothing else in the tiaiigues and 
markets of the Indians more frequently 
found nor more highly prized than this 
flower. The which is wont to g'ive the 



a powder with the addition of two pods 
of the large red peppers called texochilli, 
with their seeds removed and toasted on 
a conial, which is a kind of griddle on 
which the natives toast and make their 
bread, called by us tortillas, adding to 
the same three drops of balsam and tak- 
ing it in some suitable liquor." 

Since the time of Hernandez many 
works have appeared in which the eco- 
nomic plants of the Aztecs have been 
discussed, but in none of them is the 



SACKED FLOWERS OF THE AZTECS 



89 




FIG. 2. THE "ear-flower" AS FIGURED BY 
HERNANDEZ IN I576 

botanical identity of the xochinacastli 
hinted at, though it is invariably men- 
tioned. 

While engaged in studying the plants 
belonging to the Annonacea:, or custard- 
apple family, the writer came upon a 
photograph in the files of the Bureau 
of Plant Industry of the United States 
Department of Agriculture, showing a 
number of long-stemmed flowers with 
the three inner petals very much like the 
human ear in shape. He suspected that 
these might be the flowers of the sacred 
ear-flower, for which he had so long 
been seeking. This photograph (plate) 
was taken by Mr. C. B. Doyle in the 
market of Coban, Guatemala, while ac- 



companying Mr. O. F. Cook on a mission 
of agricultural exploration in 1904. Mr. 
Cook in his notes states that the flowers 
had a pleasant, spicy odor. They were 
offered for sale both fresh and in the 
form of dried black petals curled up on 
the edges and heavily veined inside. The 
sepals and outer petals of the fresh 
flowers were light green and the inner, 
thicker petals of a pale, dull, salmon 
color, breaking with a bright orange- 
colored fracture. No herbarium speci- 
mens of the plant were secured at this 
time, but two years later, in May, 1906, 
Mr. Cook secured specimens of an an- 
nonaceous plant at Jacaltenango, Guate- 
mala, which he did not associate with 
the aromatic flowers of the Coban mar- 
ket, which proved to be of the same 
species with them. They were found by 
the writer in the United States National 
Herbarium (sheet No. 574411). On 
tasting the dried petals they proved to 
have a pungent spicy flavor like nutmegs, 
or perhaps cubebs. The identity of the 
xochinacastli was revealed. 

The xocliinacastli, or, as it is known 
botanically, Cymbopetalum pendiiliHo- 
rum, is endemic in the forests of north- 
western Guatemala and across the border 
in the Mexican State of Chiapas. The 
use of its flowers as a spice, once so 
widely spread, gradually died out, on ac- 
count of the introduction of cinnamon 
from the East Indies, which now, to- 
gether with vanilla, is almost universally 
used for flavoring chocolate. 

VANILLA : THL "bLACK FLOWE;r" OF" THIS 
AZTECS 

Vanilla itself is of Mexican origin. It 
was highly esteemed by the Aztecs, who 
called it tlilxochitl (black flower), on 
account of the color of its long black 
pod. This is the fruit of a climbing 
orchid, which is endemic in the forests 
of Vera Cruz and other warm, moist re- 
gions of Mexico. It takes its common 
name, vanilla, from the Spanish vainilla, 
signifying a "little legume," vainilla be- 
ing the diminutive form of vaina, signi- 
fying a scabbard, or slender pod. It is 
easily propagated by cuttings and is now 



90 



THE VOLT A REVIEW 



widely cultivated in various tropical 
countries, its flowers requiring to be arti- 
ficially pollinated to produce pods in all 
localities except where the plant is na- 




FIG. 3. THE SERPENT-HEAD FEOWER AS FIGURED 
BY HERNANDEZ IN I576 

tive. This is probably owing to the 
absence of certain insects which naturally 
perform this task. 

Another beautiful orchid, perhaps the 
most highly esteemed of all the Mexican 
flowers, was called coatzontecomaxocJiitl, 
the "serpent-head flower." There may 
have been more than one species called 
by this name, but that which was figured 
by Hernandez (fig. 3) is known botani- 
cally as Stanhopea ociilata. The genus 
Stanhopea to which it belongs was named 



in honor of Earl Stanhope, at one time 
president of the Medico-Botanical Soci- 
ety of London. So greatly was this 
flower admired that it was adopted as 
the symbol or coat of arms of the learned 
Lincean Society of Rome in the seven- 
teenth century. It is epiphytal in its 
habit, with broad plicated leaves grow- 
ing from a cluster of pseudo-bulbs at- 
tached to the mossy limbs of trees, and 
large, nodding, fragrant flowers varie- 
gated with various colors. It is not 
surprising that the ancient Alexicans 
attributed magic properties to it and re- 
garded it as sacred. In speaking of it, 
Padre Ximenez says : "No words can 
worthily describe nor pencil depict the 
beauty of this flower, which is greatly 
esteemed and highly valued by the Mexi- 
can princes." It grows attached to rocks 
or tree trunks, whence it is brought to 
the gardens of the Mexicans and there 
serves as a beautiful ornament, produc- 
ing its lovely flowers at intervals, season 
after season, and filling the air with its 
fragrance. The accompanying drawing 
(fig. 4), made by Mr. Theodore Bolton, 
is interesting not only for its artistic 
beauty and accuracy, but also for the 
contrast it offers to the stiff figure of 
Hernandez. The latter, though rude, is 
far better and more accurate than most 
of the drawings in his work above re- 
ferred to, and is sufiiciently exact for 
the determination of the botanical spe- 
cies of the plant depicted. 

THU OCELOT FLOWER OR TRINITY PLANT 

The oceloxochitl, or "ocelot flower," to 
which I have already referred, is known 
botanically as Tigridia pavonia. It has 
somewhat the form of a "mariposa lily," 
but it belongs to the Iris family instead 
of to the Liliacecc. Its generic name and 
its common Spanish name, "flor del 
tigre," are scarcely applicable, since 
tigers are marked with stripes, while this 
beautiful flower is spotted, rather like a 
leopard. It is sometimes called "Hierba 
de la Trinidad," or Trinity plant, from 
the shape of its perianth, its three sta- 
mens, and its three stigmas. Hernandez's 
figure (fig. 5) is very stiff' and quite 



SACRED FLOWERS OF THE AZTECS 



91 




FIG. 4. THE SERPENT-HEAD ORCHID (Staiiliopea oculata) reduced one-half 



92 



THE VOLT A RBVIBW 




sometimes called "devil's hands." Only 
one tree of the kind was supposed to 
exist. It was of great age and had lobed 
leaves somewhat like those of a plane 
tree. The flowers have no corolla, but 



FIG. S. THE OCElvOT FI,OWER AS FIGURED BY 
HERNANDEZ IN I576 

inadequate to suggest the exquisite 
beauty of the flower, which is faithfully 
represented by Mr. Theodore Bolton 
(fig. 6). The divisions of the perianth 
are either yellow or orange red richly 
variegated with tawny or reddish spots, 
which at once suggest the markings of 
some leopard-like animal. The starchy 
roots, called by the Aztecs cacomitl, are 
edible and have somewhat the taste of 
chestnuts. They were also reputed by 
the ancient Mexicans to be efficacious in 
fevers. 

the; "de;vil's-hand flower" 

Among the trees regarded by the 
Mexicans with superstitious veneration 
was one growing near the city of Toluca, 
called macpalxochiquahuitl (hand-palm 
flower-tree), which bore peculiar flowers, 




FIG. 6. THE OCELOT FLOWER : DRAWING BY THEO- 
DORE BOLTON, REDUCED ONE" HALF 

in its place a cuplike, five-parted calyx, 
at the bottom of which are five yellow 
cavities filled with nectar. The remark- 
able feature of the flower is the form of 
the stamens, which grow together like 



SACKED FLOWERS OF THE AZTECS 



93 



the fingers of a human hand, from the 
palm of which issues the style. The 
stamens are bright red and are tipped 
with appendages resembling claws. Bot- 
anists have placed this tree in the Ster- 




FIG. 7. 



THE HAND-FLOWRR AS FIGURED BY 
HERNANDEZ IN 1576 



culia family and named it Chiranthoden- 
dron platanoides. They have found that 
its nearest relative is a shrub growing on 
the upper Sacramento River, in Califor- 
nia, called F remontod'endron calif orni- 
ciim. The latter has palmately lobed 
leaves, which are rusty beneath, like 
those of the hand-flower tree, and its 
calyx is also provided with nectaries, 
which are much visited by bees. The 
occurrence of a single tree was at first 
a source of wonder, but the mystery was 
solved by the discovery of a whole grove 
of the trees in Guatemala. It is interest- 
ing to note that these were found grow- 



ing on the slope of the Volcano de Agua, 
near the ancient town of Antigua, at an 
elevation above the sea of about 8,000 
feet ; so that it is not surprising that 
the specimen which established itself in 
Mexico, whither it had been brought in 
pre-Columbian times from Guatemala, 
had found a congenial home at about the 
same elevation in the soil of the volcano 
of Toluca. The figure here presented 
is the exaggerated drawing of Hernan- 
dez (tig. 7), which may be compared 
with the accurate figure of Mr. Bolton 
(fig. 8), drawn from a herbarium speci- 
men brought home from Guatemala by 
Mr. William R. Maxon, of the United 
States National Herbarium. 

The flowers described in this paper are 
only an index to hundreds of beautiful 




FIG. 8. THE HAND-FLOWER (Chirautliodeiidrou 
platanoides) reduced one-half 

and curious vegetable products which the 
Spaniards encountered in the New World. 
The virtues attributed some of these 
were fanciful ; others proved to be valu- 
able additions to the pharmacopcea, while 
others, such as Indian corn and cacao, 
have assumed an important place in the 
world's economy. 



THE VOLTA BUREAU 

For the Increase and Diffusion of Knowledge Relating 

to the Deaf 



Superintendent 
Harris Taylor, 35th Street and Volta Place, Washington, D. C. 

Curator 
Edward L. Dent 



The Volta Bureau aims to preserve in its fire-proof library in Washington, 
D. C, the literature of the world relating to the education of the deaf, and 
to the means of ameliorating their condition. 

Its collections include the principal works upon the Education of the 
Deaf, or deaf-and-"dumb" ; the published Reports of Schools for the Deaf 
in America and other countries ; Files of the newspapers and periodicals 
published by and for the Deaf, with most, if not all, of the extinct news- 
papers of the Deaf, and much unpublished material, available for research 
work, including the following: 

(i) A card catalogue of more than 50,000 deaf children admitted into special schools 
for the deaf in the United States during the nineteenth century (1817-1900), 
with full details concerning them taken from the private records of the schools. 

(2) Voluminous MSS. containing authentic information concerning 4,471 marriages 
of persons deaf-from-childhood (deaf-and-dumb), supplied by the families 
themselves, with details concerning the parents and other ancestors, and the 
brothers and sisters and children of the partners in marriage. Many of the 
details have been transferred to cards to facilitate the preparation of statistical 
tables. 

(3) The special schedules of the Deaf used by the Census Office in 1900, contain- 
ing detailed information concerning 89,287 persons returned as deaf or "deaf- 
and-dumb" in the Twelfth Census of the United States. The information is 
authentic because supplied by the deaf persons themselves. The perforated 
cards used by the Census Office in tabulating the returns are also preserved 
in the Volta Bureau. 

(4) The special schedules of the Blind used by the Census Office in 1900, contain- 
ing detailed information concerning 64,763 persons returned as Blind in the 
Twelfth Census of the United States. The information is authentic, because 
supplied by the blind persons themselves. The perforated cards used by the 
Census Office in tabulating the returns, are also preserved in the Volta Bureau. 

The above-mentioned material (l to 4), being of a confidential nature, cannot be 
thrown open to the general public, but the Volta Bureau welcomes bona iide investi- 
gators and will give them free access to the material under suitable restrictions relating 
to the use of names, &c. 

The Volta Bureau forms a medium of exchange between the Schools for 
the Deaf of the world. It distributes the reports of American Schools for 
the Deaf to foreign schools, and the reports of foreign schools to American 
schools. 

It supports a Teachers' Information Agency, and keeps on file a list of 
teachers seeking appointments and a list of Superintendents and Principals 
desiring teachers for deaf children. 



PRESS OF JUDD & DETWEILER, C^«ag|^^t< INC., WASHINGTON, D. C. 



THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION TO PROMOTE 
THE TEACHING OF SPEECH TO THE DEAF 
is a Philanthropic Society, incorporated in i8go under the 
laws of the State of New York. 

Official Headquarters 
945 N. St. Paul St., Rochester, N. Y. 

Business Office 
The Volta Bureau, 35th St. and Voha Place, Washington, D. C. 



The objects of the Association as defined in its certificate of incorporation 
are: 

"To AID Schools for the Deaf in their efforts to teach 
Speech and Speech -Reading — 

"By providing schools for the training of articulation teach- 
ers; 

"By the employment of an agent or agents who shall, by the 
collection and publication of statistics and papers- relating 
to the subject and by conference with teachers and others, dis- 
seminate information concerning methods of teaching speech 
and speech-reading; and 

"By using all such other means as may be deemed expedient, 
to the end that no deaf child in America shall be allowed to 
grow up 'deaf and dumb/ or 'mute,' zvithout earnest and 
persistent efforts having been made to teach him to speak and 
read the lips." 



In pursuance of these objects the Association supports a summer school 
for the training of articulation teachers, and contributes towards the mainte- 
nance of a normal class of instruction at the Clarke School for the Deaf, 
at Northampton, Mass. 

Conventions of articulation teachers and summer meetings of the Asso- 
ciation are held from time to time in various parts of the United States, 
with the object of improving the methods of teaching speech to the deaf 
by means of lectures and discussions by specialists. 

The Association publishes The Volta Review, an illustrated monthly 
magazine, and issues from time to time monographs relating to the teaching 
of speech to the deaf. 

In addition to its special work in promoting the teaching of speech to the 
deaf, the Association, through a Superintendent, now carries on the work of 
the Volta Bureau in Washington, D. C, an institution dealing more generally 
with the education of the deaf and the amelioration of their condition. 

(For Work of Volta Bureau See Over) 



The American Association to Promote the Teaching of 

Speech to the Deaf 



President, A. L. E. Crouter, Mt. Airy, Philadelphia, Pa. 

First Vice-President, Edmund Lyon, Rochester, N. Y. 

Second Vice-President, Caroline A. YalE, Northampton, Mass. 

Official Secretary, Z. F. Westervelt, 945 N. St. Paul St., Rochester, N. Y. 

General Secretary, PIarris Taylor, Volta Bureau, 35th Street and Volta Place, 

Washington, D. C. 

Treasurer, Frederick Eichelberger, Washington Loan and Trust Co., Washington, D. C. 
Auditor, Gilbert PL Grosvenor, Washington, D. C. 



The Volta Review, the organ of the Association, is edited by a PubHca- 
tion Committee : 

Chairman, Alexander Graham Bell, Washington, D. C. 
Secretary, FrEd De Land, Washington, D. C. 



The Association welcomes to its membership all persons who desire to promote the 
teaching of speech to the deaf. Membership dues, $2.00 a year, with no entrance fee. 
Life membership, $50.00. The VolTa Review is sent free to members. The Review 
is published monthly (with no July or August issues). Subscription price to non- 
members, $2.50 a year. 



Appltrattan for iEpmln^rsIitp 

To THE Ghneral Secretary, 

Volta Bureau, Washington, D. C: 

I desire to become a member of the American Association to Promote 
the Teaching of Speech to the Deaf, and inclose Two Dollars in payment 
of dues for 1912. 

Name 

Address... 

Date ... 



Applirattnn far i£ift-Mvmbnal}ip 

To the General Secretary, 

Volta Bureau, Washington, D. C: 

I desire to become a Life-Member of the American Association to Pro- 
mote the Teaching of Speech to the Deaf, and inclose the sum of Fifty 
Dollars in lieu of Annual Dues. 

Name 

Address 

Date 







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